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probability. Instead, the individual has gained new liberties for his or her decisions in
life. Life has thus become a matter of individual decisions, which has, at the same time,
led to new uncertainties. These developments have had consequences for the political
system and for political communication.

The classical models of electoral behaviour, namely the Columbia and the Michigan
model, were more or less built on social structure variables.Through the connection of
models, were more or less built on social structure variables. Through the connection of
these variables and political predispositions or party identification, political behaviour
was conceived as being rather stable. Parties and politicians knew who their clientele
was and how to speak to them. Changes in society and the dissolution of old orders
must, therefore, also have consequences for the applicability of these models. (Cf. also
Holtz-Bacha,2002.)

In fact, findings from several Western democracies have shown party ties to be
weakening. Voter volatility, as expressed in increasing numbers of floating voters, and
voting abstention has been attributed to the so-called dealignment process.In addition
to the differentiation of society, the mass media and the increasing level of education
are supposed to have fuelled dealignment.

While these changes have been occurring, we have also observed an increasing
importance of the mass media, followed by the emergence of new structures in the
media market. Both have contributed much to the change in the conditions in which
politics is made and presented to the public. Among the relevant developments in the
media system and the role that media play in society is the establishment of television
as the medium most consumed by media users, and where they get a great deal of
their political information.
The Professionalisation of Political Communication
Commercialisation is the term that describes the more recent changes of the media
market, which was initiated by opening up the broadcasting market for commercial
stations. In most West European countries, this happened during the 1980s.
commercialisation means that economic criteria have become more important for
decisions in the media than journalistic ideals.In addition,the differentiation of the media
market in general, and of the television market in particular, increased the number of
channels available to the audience. These developments all had consequences for the
mediation of politics. In the commercialised media world, politics – just as other media
products – has to hold its own in the market, its success being measured by audience
shares. The multi-channel environment on the one hand holds the potential for a
fragmentation of the audience, meaning that the audience is distributed over the
multitude of channels. Individual channels no longer have the big audience shares that
were common in the monopoly situation and that took on an integrating function in
society.On the other hand,the multitude of channels has made it easier for the individual
viewer to compose his or her own special television menu. This also means that it has
become easier to switch channels and thus to avoid politics on television.
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